The right to peacefully assemble, enshrined both in the U.S. Constitution and international human rights law, is an intrinsic element of the democratic fabric of the United States. Yet according to a report released Friday by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), an international organization of which the U.S. is a member, America is failing to uphold this fundamental right. The report is the first comprehensive OSCE report on violation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly that covers the U.S.
The ACLU today released a report that finds the Puerto Rico Police Department -- the second-largest police department in the U.S. -- is plagued by a culture of unrestrained abuse and brutality. The use of excessive or lethal force is routine among the 17,000 officer-department. In recent years, civil and human rights violations have resulted in the unjustifiable loss of civilians’ lives, and severe and lasting injuries.
Today, there are American citizens who are being assaulted by police during peaceful protests, but you likely have heard very little about it. The Puerto Rico Police Department (PRPD), the second largest police department in the country, is out of control, with a broken and inadequate system for investigating, or even recording, acts of severe police brutality — including lethal force — perpetrated against the communities it is meant to protect. While all of this is occurring in the public eye, none of it is making headlines.
When the Occupy Wall Street movement ignited last fall, there was no shortage of disturbing press reports about NYPD misconduct toward the demonstrators. We've all read stories about the NYPD’s abuses—the eviction of hundreds of protesters from Zuccotti Park, the mass arrest of 700 people on the Brooklyn Bridge, the pepper-spraying of peaceful protesters.
By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 8:19am
The Bay Area Rapid Transit System (“BART,” for short) has a serious public relations problem. BART Police have been involved in three fatal shootings of BART passengers in the past three years, including the Oscar Grant incident in 2009, in which an unarmed African-American New Year’s Eve reveler was shot in the back while lying face-down on a BART platform by a white police officer who later testified that he meant to use his taser, not his pistol. The shooting, and the controversial verdict in the criminal trial of the BART police officer, spurred widespread protests.
By Kate Wood, Fellow, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 10:25am
People who disagree with the president have as much a right to be heard as those who wish to praise him. Today at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, the ACLU will be defending the free speech rights of presidential protestors who were discriminated against solely for the messages on their signs.
By Donna Lieberman, New York Civil Liberties Union at 12:09pm
As the Occupy Wall Street movement gains steam, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is standing beside the demonstrators and defending their right to speak their minds.
Teams of NYCLU staff and volunteers regularly visit the movement's headquarters at Zuccotti Park to distribute our Know Your Rights information and engage the demonstrators' on their experiences with the NYPD. The park's makeshift library is well-stocked with our Demonstrating in New York City and What to Do if You're Stopped by the Police guides. We're engaging the protestors on Facebook and Twitter as well.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:46pm
The ACLU just scored a big win for freedom of speech from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). More than 2 years ago we filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (OCRCL) concerning an effort to collect and distribute information about lawful demonstrations. Earlier this month, we received a letter from OCRCL letting us know that they have resolved our complaint, and are adopting our recommendations!
Earlier this week, we told you about your RNC-related rights, and now we’ve pulled together similar resources specific to the Democratic National Convention.
As we mentioned before, while the First Amendment protects our rights to free speech and assembly, police and government officials are allowed to place certain nondiscriminatory and narrowly drawn "time, place and manner" restrictions on the exercise of First Amendment rights. These restrictions must apply to all speech regardless of its point of view, but this does mean that how these rights manifest themselves do vary from state to state and city to city.
